


Eternity

by inky_starlight



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, vaguely historical I'm not really researching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-08-18 06:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8152577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inky_starlight/pseuds/inky_starlight
Summary: After being taken prisoner after his first battle, Minseok ends up as a palace servant in the Lu Kingdom. More specifically, he ends up as a personal servant to the crown prince, Lu Han.





	1. Chapter 1

Minseok’s heart was pounding as he loaded his gun. This was it; today was the day, he’d been told, when his regiment would enter into the war.

“Company, form up!” Minseok straightened as if his company commander had jabbed him. Next to him, Jongdae, his cousin, did the same, as well as every other member of his company. Within moments they were forming their practiced lines. Pheromones and societal roles already made it hard for omegas to disobey the express order of an alpha… so much more so in the army.

They were at war with the Lu Kingdom. Minseok, nor any of the other omega soldiers, had never been told why they were at war or what they were fighting for. They were at war, the soldiers of the Lu army would be trying to kill them. Be the last one standing, that’s all they needed to know. How to kill members of the opposing army and defend themselves. It was the officer’s jobs to know what was really going on, the alphas and betas. The foot soldiers, they were plentiful, expendable.

Omegas.

They weren’t even given proper uniforms. That was the kicker, what really told them how useless they were to their commanders: they weren’t even given any kind of mark of the kingdom they were being told to fight and die for. Even the animals brought along to be killed for meat along the campaign trail had the brand of the king… Minseok had his own dirt stained tunic and rapidly wearing pants, and shoes that were almost useless. That was it. Some of the omegas were lucky enough to have hats, but all that protected Minseok’s head from the sun was his own hair.

It was already a curse to be born as an omega in their kingdom; they were so plentiful that even in the upper class they were distained, useful only for securing family ties with marriages. The peasant class… even the delicate ones were used for hard labor. The alphas and betas didn’t care if they died on the job, and walked past even pregnant omegas homeless in the streets. Minseok and Jongdae had been lucky: they were born on a farm, and while the work was hard, the country was better than the cities for omegas, by a long shot.

The morning was cool in the way that promised anything from mild rain to a thunderstorm later in the day. Cool but more than a little humid, the sky overcast but not overly dark. The humidity was unwelcome, at least for Minseok who thought he sweated enough without it, but the coolness was just fine. The slight breeze made it even better. All in all, good weather to die under.

They knew without a doubt that they were going to die. They, as in the collective company. The general thought was that the country omegas would last longer and maybe a few of them would make it out alive (Sanghyuk, tall, broad, and with muscles that made him look almost like an alpha, was proclaimed the most likely) but they knew that most of them would be killed within the first few minutes. Their company commander was not a patient alpha, and he’d done little more than teach them how to not shoot or stab each other in the back and move in formation well enough to not embarrass him. Other companies in their regiment were thought to be luckier (Captain Cha was patient enough to be a school teacher and his company were probably the best out of the whole regiment and everyone figured they’d all make it out alive) but by and large, they knew the score.

For a quick moment, as they lined up in formation, Jongdae and Minseok each took a hand off of their bayonets and held each other’s hands. They’d been born in the same house, had lived and worked on the same field, and would now die in the exact same battle. It was fitting for the two of them. They’d reached acceptance. Many of the omegas in the regiment were still angry, but Minseok and Jongdae had passed that stage during their minimal training.

“Let’s stay together, okay?” Jongdae whispered.

Minseok nodded.

“Move out!” the company commander shouted, in unison with the other commanders of the regiment, and, as one, they began to move.

They could look impressive parading, if nothing else.

Company by company, the entire regiment began to march. A regiment rather than a battalion; the king was hoping to be impressive and intimidating. Two thousand omegas; from far away, and downwind as they were, they’d just look like two thousand bodies, all marching at once. It didn’t matter that they had barely had enough training to know how to not kill each other on accident; when alphas were having to step over homeless peasant omegas in the street, the king could afford the loss of even the entire regiment.

“Byun! Stop looking around!” Their company commander barked orders at them as he rode alongside the parade on horseback.

“Han! Keep your hand on your bayonet!”

“Kim!” About two lines of people jolted. “Minseok! Feet up, dammit!”

Minseok tried to correct himself, but the soles of his shoes were coming off and it was difficult.

But their commander didn’t call him out again, and rode farther back down the parade.

“PARK! YOU’RE OUT OF STEP!”

There was a small commotion from several lines behind Minseok as several people all tried to correct themselves unnecessarily. Minseok didn’t dare turn around to look.

Two thousand pairs of marching feet. Several dozen horses walking alongside. Even walking through grass, they made a lot of noise. The dirt the grass grew on was dusty and flew up easily, kicked up by the thousands of feet and the breeze that rustled the grass and nearby trees. Next to Minseok, Jongdae coughed, and Minseok felt his eyes water, blinking rapidly as dust flew up into them. His braid felt heavy between his shoulder blades, and he was starting to sweat, his tunic sticking to his skin.

Marching… marching… a mile, maybe two. Minseok’s knees hurt from having to pick them up higher to accommodate his nearly broken shoes, and he was sweating enough that the sweat ran down from his face into his tunic, making the tunic stick to his skin even more than it already was. He could feel that the worn spot, one of many, between his thighs on his pants had finally turned into a hole, and now that spot on his right thigh was rapidly chaffing and tender where it rubbed against the material of his other pant leg.

And then the direction of the wind changed slightly, and Minseok could see several people in front of him almost double over, stumbling at the overpowering smell of alphas. Alphas, betas… the Lu’s army was nearby. Minseok almost stopped from the sheer weight of it, like a punch in the gut, as if the scent had a presence in itself.

“STAY IN FORMATION!” Their own alpha company commander was unrelenting, and his omegas obeyed, even if all half of them wanted to do was lay down in the dirt.

They came close enough that Minseok could see them. The Lu kingdom had sent a battalion, eight hundred alphas and betas to their own two thousand omegas. But the Lu battalion wouldn’t be able to tell, in this brief calm before the storm, that the entire regiment of foot soldiers were omegas. This would be the only time they might be at all intimidated.

“Company halt!” Minseok’s company commander yelled out, and they all stopped at once.

Company by company, the regiment took shape. The unease, coming off both armies, could be cut with a knife it was so potent and thick.

Two armies, standing on opposite ends of the clearing. For a moment, everything was quiet. The wind rustled the trees, picking up enough to make the smaller ones groan with movement. The grass sounded like a large group of people whispering, waiting to see what would happen and speculating on who would live and who would die. The braids of the soldiers moved in the wind, brushing against their shoulder blades or coming undone and sending hair flying into faces. The clouds were silent, but moving, witnesses.

Both armies watched each other, both intimidated by the other, but for entirely different reasons. If they had been close enough to see each other’s faces, they would have been at least mildly comforted that the fear was mutual.

Finally, the call to attack came from commanders of the regiment. Some companies flew forward obediently, spurred on by training and a probably misplaced sense of loyalty; others needed the encouragement of their commanding officer’s gun.

Minseok’s right shoe fell apart completely and came off his foot as he ran forward in his line. He kept running, he’d be trampled or shot if he stopped, but he realized the hard way that there were also plenty of rocks in the dirt beneath the grass. Within only a few strides, he felt the sharp, tell-tale pain that told him his foot was bleeding, whether from a particularly sharp rock or a fallen blade, Minseok couldn’t tell.

Jongdae grabbed Minseok’s hand when Minseok began to stumble. Dirt was getting into the cuts on his foot and there were small, sharp, pieces of rocks beginning to embed themselves and it hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Minseok could see the clashing point between the two armies rapidly getting closer. The Lu army hadn’t had the chance to really take in the omega scent, and they still looked a little panicked, but omegas were dropping like grass under a scythe. He let out a terrified whimper when he saw Baekhyun, one of their tent mates, crumple to the ground. He didn’t see any blood, so he didn’t think the kid was dead, but he could never be sure.

“Stay close to me!” Jongdae yelled to make himself heard above the cacophony of yelling and terrified shrieks and gunshots.

And in a blink, they were in the thick of it. Minseok could barely process any of it. The din of battle was so loud here. Layers of shouts, both from the foot soldiers of both armies, and the officers. The officers in the Lu battalion were fighting with their betas and alphas, the officers of Minseok’s army were hanging back for the most part, though a few of them were in the thick of things, Captain Cha being one of them. Someone shot off a gun close to him and it made his ears ring painfully.

Minseok stumbled, it was hard to do anything but stumble when one of his shoes were gone and the rocks just under the thin layer of dirt and grass were so sharp. He wasn’t next to Jongdae anymore but he could still see him. He tripped over Baekhyun, cutting his chin on a rock and scraping his hands. Minseok crawled back over to him, and checked his pulse, checked his breath.

He was alive, he was alive just unconscious.

Minseok stood, and limped closer to Jongdae, trying to keep him in his field of vision. He held in a whimper of pain; the more he moved the more his foot felt like someone was stabbing it, but there was no point in making noise about it.

He saw someone barreling towards him only a few seconds before they actually hit. Pheromones told him “alpha” just before he hit the ground.

The alpha didn’t look to be much, if at all, older than him, with a knife in his hand and a look of shock on his face. Minseok was sure the alpha could feel his heart beating frantically like a rabbit cornered by a dog.

“You’re an omega,” the alpha sounded like he was confused.

Minseok nodded frantically. He stayed completely still, his hip smarting from where he’d landed on it. Maybe, maybe, if he didn’t move the alpha wouldn’t kill him.

“You’re all omegas!” The look of shock changed to a look of horror.

Minseok nodded again. “Please…”

The alpha pushed off the ground, off of Minseok, and ran in the opposite direction, towards his commanding officer.

Minseok scrambled to his feet, and looked around quickly for Jongdae. He couldn’t see him, he wasn’t in the same direction he had been.

Minseok still hurried as best he could, dodging battling duos the entire way, in the same direction he’d been going, hoping that maybe Jongdae had just been blocked from him by the swarm of bodies.

He still couldn’t see Jongdae, but finally, _finally_ , he heard him shout, and spun around, making his way over to him. His foot hurt so bad the pain was shooting up his leg now, but Minseok kept his momentum going. He had to get to Jongdae!

Minseok saw him just as Jongdae was shoving a Lu soldier away from him. He was sweaty, dirty, and his hair out of its braid completely, but he was unharmed.

“Jongdae!” Minseok called out to him.

Jongdae whirled around to face him, but just as quickly his look of relief changed to one of horror.

“Minseok!” he screamed as he pointed just behind him.

Minseok didn’t have time to turn around and face whatever it was before something solid hit him hard in the side of the head, shooting pain through his entire body as the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a much shorter chapter than the rest will be! 
> 
> I got the idea for this when the trailers for Kim Seondal started coming out and then along came pictures from Fighter of Destiny ^^


	2. Chapter 2

Minseok opened his eyes just enough to catch a glimpse of too-bright light before he closed them again just as quickly. He could feel he was on his bed, he could hear voices talking softly near him; Baekhyun had probably left the tent flap open again, the social butterfly, but hopefully it would draw in a breeze soon. His right foot was throbbing and his head felt like one of the sergeants had slammed him into the wall-

Wait.

It took him a moment to catch up, to realize that the battle had not been a nightmare but very, terrifyingly, real. He should not be in his bed.

His eyes flew open, even though the light was too bright and it _hurt_ , and he sat up with a gasp, swaying a bit with dizziness. A wet cloth fell off his forehead (it was warm by now, not really wet anymore, and felt gross) and he looked around.

He was in a tent, what looked like a medical tent. The tent had a frame to it and netting over a few windows to let in light and air but keep out mosquitos. Minseok’s head was pounding and the light shining in was far too much.

There were two rows of beds; Minseok could see by the dirty, non-descript, clothes that the beds were full of his fellow omegas. There might have been more beds, Minseok couldn’t see light beyond the flap of the tent, but he couldn’t be sure.

Someone heard him when he gasped. Minseok saw a tall, _very_ tall medic turn around, and as the medic began to approach him, Minseok shrank back when pheromones told him the medic was a beta.

“It’s okay,” the medic’s voice was deep, but not growly, and his tone sounded like he was trying to be soothing. “My name is Chanyeol. I’m a medic. I’m not going to hurt you.”

His brain caught up the rest of the way and Minseok looked around frantically, staring at each face he could see in the beds around him.

“What’s the matter?” Chanyeol asked.

“Jongdae,” Minseok said quickly. “Have you seen an omega named Kim Jongdae?”

Chanyeol looked confused, and Minseok’s heart sank down to his stomach. Then, after a second, his face lit up.

“Your cousin! I told him to go lay down and rest. Don’t move.”

Jongdae was okay. If he’d been told to go lay down, he was okay.

Minseok didn’t move a muscle as Chanyeol walked to the tent flap, and moved it aside to talk to someone briefly before he came back.

“Okay, can I have a look at your head?” Chanyeol asked. “You’ve been unconscious for almost a full day.”

Minseok nodded, but he was confused that Chanyeol even _cared_. The fact that he and a good number of omegas were in a medical tent at all, and very clearly a Lu medical tent, was weird to him.

Chanyeol probed gently along his scalp, before gently holding Minseok’s head and using a lens to focus light coming in from the window right into Minseok’s eyes. That _hurt_ and Minseok whined in discomfort but didn’t dare try to move out of Chanyeol’s hold.

Chanyeol apologized, and took the lens away as quickly as he could.

There were bandages on Minseok’s hands and his right foot, but Chanyeol didn’t touch those yet. Instead, he just sat back a comfortable distance from Minseok and smiled.

“Well, I don’t think you have any further injuries to your head, which is the best thing we could have hoped for. You might suffer from headaches more but that should be the worst of it. The bandages on your hands can come off tomorrow, probably, but your foot-“

“Minseok!” Chanyeol was cut off abruptly as Jongdae burst into the tent, running for him immediately.

Chanyeol stepped to the side to let Jongdae get to Minseok. Jongdae’s eyes were red-rimmed, Minseok could tell he’d been crying, and when he hugged Minseok he hugged like he was never going to let go of him ever again.

Minseok wrapped his arms around Jongdae and began to rub his back, like their mothers did when either one of them were upset, and Jongdae started crying all over again.

Minseok hushed him quietly, and Chanyeol smiled at him before mouthing _‘I’ll come back later’_ and left the two of them be.

After Minseok had cuddled Jongdae into calming down, Jongdae explained everything that had happened in the past day, while Minseok had been unconscious.

They had lost. Minseok wasn’t surprised by this, but apparently it had been a big shock to the Lu battalion that they had managed to win. There had been a retreat when the regiment was down to five hundred. Five hundred. Out of two thousand.

Unfortunately, and the Lu officers said unfortunately, which baffled Minseok, it wasn’t for some time during the battle before they realized they were fighting omegas. So many were dead, their bodies left discarded by their former officers like trash in the clearing. The Lu army had set up funeral pyres, the only way to give the omegas something like a decent burial. And all the wounded, or the friends and family who wouldn’t move from the wounded, like Jongdae, were taken into the Lu army camp. Only about two hundred omegas had made it among the dead and wounded. So about seven hundred total… out of two thousand.

Their entire tent: Jongdae, Baekhyun, Jongin, and Minseok himself, had been taken to the Lu camp. Baekhyun was unconscious, and the alpha Jongin had gotten into hand-to-hand with had told him to pretend to be knocked out. Jongdae was fine, save for some bruising. When Minseok had been knocked out, Jongdae had stayed over him, making sure no one hurt him further, which was why Minseok didn’t have as many bruises as he could have.

“What are they going to do with us?” Minseok asked.

“I don’t know,” Jongdae shook his head.

Jongdae had wanted to stay with Minseok the entire time, but when the beta medic, Chanyeol, came back and told Jongdae that dinner had been prepared for him, Minseok shooed him away.

“Hurry,” Minseok whispered so Chanyeol wouldn’t overhear. “We don’t know when we’ll get to eat again.”

Jongdae nodded, and hurried off, with Chanyeol following behind him.

A different medic came by a few minutes after they’d gone, and brought bowls for each of the omegas in the tent block Minseok was in. When they handed Minseok his bowl, Minseok couldn’t keep his jaw from opening in surprise.

A helping of rice a little bit bigger than the size of his closed fist, and more chicken than Minseok had had in one sitting since he’d left home.

“Is all of this for me?”

“Of course!” The medic raised their eyebrows. “Eat well, someone will collect the bowls in an hour or so, I think.”

It was beyond confusing. Minseok would have been delighted to receive anything at all, and now he was being fed better than he had been back in his own camp.

Someone came by to collect the bowls a little while later, as well as to light lanterns since the sun had gone down, and after that Chanyeol was back.

“I sent Jongdae and your friend Jongin off to the baths,” Chanyeol said, to explain why Jongdae wasn’t back yet before Minseok even had a chance to wonder.

Chanyeol knelt down next to Minseok’s bed.

“Like I said before, the bandages on your hands can probably come off tomorrow. You had some scrapes on your palms, but nothing major. Your right foot, however…”

The look on Chanyeol’s face made him nervous.

“I don’t know how you kept walking. The bottom of your foot looks like meat, to be honest. In a few days I can give you a crutch so you can move around, but the bandages are going to have to stay on your foot for a while yet. I’ll need to put dressing on your foot daily, so you’ll have to sleep in the medical tent until we leave here, but once I can get you a crutch, you can walk around.”

Minseok nodded. “Thank you.”

Chanyeol smiled, “of course.”

“What’s… what’s going to happen with us? After we leave camp?” Minseok had to ask.

“I don’t think a decision has been made yet,” Chanyeol told him, and Minseok just nodded.

The days following were more peaceful days than Minseok had had in months, at least as far as activities went. There was no training, no inspections, no guard shifts… that part of it was wonderful. But at the same time there was an undercurrent of unease. Minseok could see it on the face of every omega, both injured and not. They had no clue what was going to happen to them, and if the medics knew they were being close-lipped about it.

The treatment was confusing, too. Minseok had expected that the omegas would be largely ignored, or paid just enough attention that they got pushed around, like how it was back in their old army camp. But no, even with the un-injured omegas, all the Lu personnel, both army and medic, were gentle with them. Minseok had watched out the window as an alpha carrying a stack of blankets high enough that he couldn’t see had bumped into an omega. He had ignored the fallen blankets and was instead focused on comforting the frantically apologizing omega.

“It’s not your fault,” his tone was soothing. “Did I hurt you?”

“Oh no, no, alpha, not at all!” The omega was quick to tell him, and began picking up the blankets. “These shouldn’t get dirty, where are they going? You shouldn’t have to do this, you’re an alpha, I’ll carry them.”

The moment ended with both alpha and omega walking side by side and each carrying a smaller stack of blankets.

It was weird.

Chanyeol was able to find Minseok a crutch like he said, so after a few days of being stuck in bed, Minseok was able to go exploring. He had tried putting weight on his foot and it had hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes, so he had to hobble with the help of the crutch, but it was a lot better than being stuck in bed.

The Lu army camp was in a lot nicer location. There were much fewer rocks than on the other side of the clearing, and the trees weren’t quite as dense around the tents so Minseok didn’t have as much trouble getting around as he thought he might. The breeze ruffled nicely through the camp, cooling everyone down, and Minseok took several moments to just stand there and sigh contentedly. It was cloudy again, nice and cool, and it felt perfect.

Minseok couldn’t immediately tell which ones were the tents for the omegas and which belonged to the Lu army men, which surprised him. Jongdae took him to the tent he was staying in, with Jongin and two Lu betas, and Minseok saw that they had hung up a blanket as some kind of privacy screen.

“The betas did that,” Jongdae told him with a little smile. “They said they don’t want to make us uncomfortable since we don’t have a tent to ourselves.”

Everything was so uncertain, yet at the same time Minseok hadn’t seen Jongdae and Jongin this carefree in quite a while. Minseok watched while they played games with the Lu alphas and betas, and seeing the happy flush return to Jongdae’s face made him smile himself.

Baekhyun regained consciousness not too long after Minseok did, but like Minseok was told to sleep in the medical tent. He was originally in a different section from Minseok, but he pouted and puppy-eyed his way into getting his bed moved right next to Minseok’s. At first Minseok was worried about the medics’ tempers flaring up because of the begging, Baekhyun’s begging could be obnoxious, but they all seemed to like him and so the switch went over without a problem.

“If we were back in our old camp you would have gotten punched,” Minseok warned him when Baekhyun settled into his new bed next to him.

“Why do you think I waited so long?” Baekhyun grinned. “But no, the personnel here are a lot nicer. I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Don’t push your luck, though.” Minseok couldn’t keep the worry off his face.

“That’s true. It would be a shame if they punched me in the face and ruined my profile.” His words were serious but his tone was flippant.

Minseok had to tease him, he’d left himself too open for it.

“It would be; your face is your only redeeming feature.”

“Hey!”

Finally, when Minseok was so grimy he couldn’t stand it, Chanyeol said he would accompany Minseok and Jongdae to the baths, if Minseok was comfortable. He could take the bandages off, wait for Minseok to finish, and then re-dress his foot there. As soon as Chanyeol said “bath” Baekhyun perked up, and by the time they were heading toward the natural spring, Jongin had joined in too.

When the ground got too rocky for Minseok to maneuver his crutch well, Jongin carried him. He tripped a couple times and kept asking if Minseok was okay. He was naturally very nurturing and it was sweet. Minseok reassured him he was fine with a bit of teasing:

“Such a sweet kid!” Minseok smiled as he ruffled Jongin’s hair.

Jongin whined a little but not enough to be a real protest. Minseok left his hand in Jongin’s hair, rubbing and scratching his scalp gently as he walked, and smiled when he heard Jongin sigh contentedly.

Finally, they made it, and Jongin set Minseok down on a larger rock so Chanyeol could undo the bandages easier.

“How is it healing?” Minseok asked him.

“I’d rather wait and look again after you wash the old medicine off. I missed more than I thought and it’s making it look worse than it is.”

Chanyeol always wiped off old dressing when he re-wrapped Minseok’s foot, but since he did it in the lower light of the tent, Minseok figured missing some was perfectly reasonable.

Chanyeol turned around while the four omegas undressed, and Jongdae and Baekhyun helped Minseok maneuver into the spring. The water was a little cool, but washing the built up dirt and grime off his skin felt like heaven. The omegas all helped each other wash off their backs; Jongdae and Jongin had had a chance to go several times before, so they weren’t bad off at all, but Minseok and Baekhyun badly needed a wash. After they were clean, Minseok re-braided everyone’s hair, and they looked a lot more presentable than they had before going.

When he put his clothes back on, Minseok examined the bottom of his right foot. It was clearly healing, but it was still all massive scabs, crossing over each other. No wonder Chanyeol had said his foot had looked like meat. Minseok knew better to think it wouldn’t scar, and sighed. Ah well, it wasn’t like a potential future alpha was going to be inspecting the bottom of his feet. He just hoped the scabs healed quickly or he wouldn’t be walking for a while yet.

Chanyeol told him pretty much the same thing while he dressed and re-bandaged Minseok’s foot.

“They’re healing like they should. We caught infection in the early stages. You should be just fine after a while.”

Days passed, and Minseok lost track of time, he’d forgotten how long it had actually been since the battle, when the announcement came. Everyone gathered, omegas included so the officers didn’t have to repeat themselves, in the main compound of the camp. Chanyeol carried him on his back so Minseok didn’t have to move his foot around, and Minseok was grateful even though Chanyeol’s hips were a bit boney. Everyone was quiet: the Lu army out of training, and the omegas out of anticipation, and after the camp had been so lively, the silence seemed unnatural and more than a little unnerving.  

“We’ve received orders to return to the Capital,” the commanding officer told them.

Minseok froze, and just barely felt Chanyeol rub his leg in reassurance.

“We will receive further assignments once assessments have been made. Omega’s will be temporarily assigned service positions within the Capital until a treaty has been reached. We break camp in the morning and begin the march home.”

The Lu army saluted, but Minseok was frozen on Chanyeol’s shoulders. Service positions. That could mean anything, there had been no elaborating on what they’d be doing.

A wave of anxiety washed over the omegas. This was what they had been dreading. Service position could mean hard labor either indoors as a domestic servant or in fields or even a mine or quarry. It could also mean a bed slave. Whether outright or given over as a domestic servant only to become a bed slave from there… it was something they dreaded.

Jongdae was pale and quiet, and Jongin was somber when they went back to the tent they shared with the betas. Minseok was still on Chanyeol’s back, and Baekhyun walked next to them as they headed back to the medical tent.

Chanyeol could tell they were worried, of course he could. He was quiet as they walked back to the tent and when he set Minseok down on his bed. Baekhyun sat down on Minseok’s bed as well, huddling close, and Minseok knew he was wanting to be reassured, even if the reassurance was a bit pointless.

Minseok wrapped an arm around Baekhyun, and Chanyeol knelt down in front of them, so he was looking up at them. Minseok knew he was trying to look as non-threatening as possible, and with his eyes wide and his eyebrows crinkled with concern, it worked, even as big as he was.

“I promise nothing bad will happen to you,” Chanyeol told them softly, his voice a low, comforting rumble. “Any of you. You don’t need to be afraid, okay?”

Minseok nodded minutely, but Chanyeol didn’t have time to stay with them longer. The medics were already starting to pack up supplies and he had to go help.

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Baekhyun asked him softly.

Minseok didn’t think he’d ever seen Baekhyun look this scared. There was something frantic in the way he looked at Minseok, and it made him wonder what he’d seen or what he’d been through. He hadn’t even looked like this the morning of the battle, when they were all convinced they were going to die.

“Sure.”

They pulled back the blanket and squished together on the bed. The bed was in no way made for two people, but Baekhyun was pressed tightly up against Minseok and Minseok didn’t think either of them were in danger of falling. He pulled the blanket over them both, and slid his left arm, which was against the mattress, under Baekhyun’s neck, wrapping the other behind Baekhyun to hold him.

Baekhyun hugged him tightly, and Minseok started to rub the back of his neck and thread his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair. It seemed to work: Baekhyun fell asleep a lot faster than anyone else in the tent: Minseok could hear sniffling and the anxious creaking of movement for a while longer, before he finally fell asleep himself.

In the morning, there were fewer omegas. Nearly fifty had managed to run overnight, even some from the medical tent, who didn’t have leg injuries. No doubt helped by their uninjured friends or family, and Minseok couldn’t blame them. None of the Lu army had said that they wouldn’t be bed slaves, and that was not a risk that sat well with any of them. There were prostitutes in their kingdom, of course there were, but there was still a measure of willingness to it. The one law protecting omegas was that they could not be sold into a brothel.

They had no idea if there was such a law in the Lu kingdom. And none of them wanted to be forced into prostitution. The kindness of the Lu alphas and betas was not a definite reassurance.

The camp broke down around them: the tent fabric was taken off of the tent frames and packed away, medical supplies were loaded and each of the soldiers had a pack of their own things on their backs. The omegas themselves were helped into both the wagons that had been intended for the injured, and empty supply wagons.

The Lu army managed to fit all of them in the wagons, but it was far from comfortable. Jongdae, Minseok, Jongin, and Baekhyun had stayed together, so they were put in the same wagon, which was the only thing that made the trip bearable.

It was a several day journey. Minseok knew he should have expected it, it had been the first battle of the war, of course the capitals would be farther away, but expecting it or not did nothing to make it more tolerable. The wagons were extremely uncomfortable, and while some omegas were sitting in each other’s laps to make as much room as they could, it was still a far cry from a solution. They were still fed well, which was good, but whether they were moving or stopped for the night, sleeping was almost impossible. Minseok took naps when he sat in Jongin’s lap, and he coaxed Jongdae into napping when Jongdae sat in Minseok’s lap, massaging his neck and rubbing his back.

“This is only temporary,” Minseok murmured to him, saying it for his own benefit as much as Jongdae’s. “When the war ends, they’ll negotiate a treaty, and then we can go see our mothers again.”

“I know,” Jongdae mumbled, but he clung tighter to Minseok all the same.

Minseok had Jongdae asleep in his lap and Baekhyun leaning into him, drifting off, when an excited rumble began to move through the Lu army. Minseok wanted to look around, but Jongdae and Baekhyun had him pinned in such a way that he really couldn’t move much.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his back, and his startle jostled Jongdae and Baekhyun enough to wake them.

It was only Chanyeol, who had ridden close on his horse:

“Look!” his smile was the most excited Minseok had seen in a while, and he pointed off to the right of the wagon trail. Minseok craned his neck to look.

On the top of a hill, sticking out among the trees, was a roof and the upper part of a building. That was all they could see for now, but Minseok knew it had to be a pretty large building for them to be able to see it over the trees, as tall as they were. The section of the upper part that they could see was elegantly decorated, with carvings that Minseok could tell even at a distance would be intricate. The flat surfaces were clean, bright, well-maintained. Even just that small upper section screamed luxury.

“That’s the roof of the palace!” Chanyeol told the four of them excitedly.

The roof of the palace. They were almost there.

As the parade moved closer, the word spread and the excitement of the soldiers was soon met with the anxiety of the omegas. Conflicting waves crashing into each other and creating a muddled atmosphere.

Minseok just kept rubbing Jongdae’s back as if it would protect him from whatever the Lu government had planned for them.

It was almost evening by the time they reached the walls of the city. The sun was beginning to set, but the lower light didn’t take away from how imposing the walls were. Tall, tall enough to pose a serious barrier to any army, and made with massive cut stone blocks.

A team of guards hauled the gates open. Metal gates, Minseok couldn’t tell what kind. The capital city of his own kingdom didn’t even have gates (walls, yes, but just an opening that was designed to make the city easier to defend and not completely protected) and yet the Lu kingdom’s had heavy metal gates as tall as the walls surrounding them.

What immediately took Minseok by surprise were the people, or rather, the lack of them. It wasn’t an empty city by any means; it was full of outdoor market stalls with both vendors and customers, children playing games, running further up the street in excitement as they saw the parade of soldiers. But Minseok looked down alleyways, under any bridges he could see, and he couldn’t see omegas. In nearly all of their cities, the alleys would be full of omegas, trying their best to build a passable shelter out of scrap wood and old clothes. Some would be sitting just off the road, displaying salvaged items on blankets in an attempt to sell enough to buy some bread or a piece of fruit. Omega children, some in worn clothes, some naked, playing just outside of the alley or trying to get away with stealing some street food. He had only been in the city near his home a few times, when he and Jongdae were tucked under the arms of their alpha uncle, clinging to his shirt hem as he led them to the main outdoor market. It was the same every time, and Minseok desperately wanted to do something for the children, at least, but their uncle said there was nothing they _could_ do.

But here… there was none of that. No fabric house communities, no dirty naked children. He saw omegas, sure, but they were clearly not living on the street. They were fully clothed, in nice clothing, and carried baskets full of things they’d probably picked up shopping. They walked with either their mates or in a gaggle of other omegas, laughing and waving to the soldiers passing by. Their cheeks were full, their hair was shiny and pulled back prettily… they looked very well off.

Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, and Baekhyun all shared Looks with each other.

They got closer to the palace, and Minseok couldn’t keep his mouth from dropping open. It was massive, with perfectly clean walls and carvings which were just as ornate as Minseok had thought they would be. It was obvious from the palace, if it hadn’t been before from the rest of the city, that the Lu kingdom was very wealthy.

There was a military compound near the palace, and the parade continued into it. All at once, there was a flurry of activity. Critically-injured soldiers were moved into the military hospital. Supplies were re-sorted, soldiers and medics alike dropped their packs in their barracks or temporary housing. Everything had to look presentable.

The king was coming.

The omegas were helped out of the wagons by the soldiers, and at first they all just huddled together at the back of the compound. The number of them was too large for the way they were huddled to look anything but pitiful, but none of them cared. Eventually, the officers came over to get them lined up and that, at least, was something they knew. They weren’t in their correct order, and they were from different companies so no one really knew what the order was even supposed to be, but they made several straight lines.

If there was any military thing they knew, it was how to line up, and their lines were perfect both down the rows and columns.

The soldiers lined up in front of them, quickly and efficiently, and the medics lined up in several columns on the side. They weren’t waiting for more than a few moments when the call came from the commanding officer:

“Attention!”

It was ingrained in the omegas, and they all snapped to it as well. Minseok still had his crutch, but he supported the weight on his right side on his wrist so that he wasn’t stooping and didn’t have the crutch at an angle.

Minseok couldn’t see the king and his entourage, but his voice boomed out, echoing off the compound walls. He congratulated them all on their victory, told them a feast had been prepared in their honor, and dismissed them.

The omegas waited in silence, still at attention. The officer standing near them waited a moment before calling out, maybe just on a whim, none of them knew:

“Company, march!”

And they did. Minseok thought he could see some of the king’s entourage raise their eyebrows in surprise, but the omegas all marched forward to the king until the officer called out:

“Company, halt!”

Minseok could see the king now. He was fairly tall, and middle aged, with a long graying beard and a neutral expression. Minseok couldn’t tell what he was thinking when he looked at all of them; his expression wasn’t kind, but it wasn’t a leer, either. Next to him was, presumably, the queen. She was fairly pretty, and was either a bit younger than the king or had on enough makeup to hide wrinkles. Her hair done elegantly with beautiful gold combs, and she had a soft smile on her face that actually did make Minseok feel a bit more at ease. There was one other person standing with the royal couple, the rest were all a pace or two behind them, clearly servants.

The boy on the king’s other side was remarkably handsome. His features were slender, almost delicate looking… something about his face told Minseok that even if he came across him in plain clothes in a market, Minseok would immediately think he was a prince. The way he held himself gave off the air of a quiet, dignified, power. He looked to be about Minseok’s age, and was a bit taller. There was something gentle in his expression that was calming, but at the same time Minseok found himself hoping that the prince didn’t find the group of omegas lacking when he looked at them.

Minseok looked at the king again when he began to speak. His voice was softer now that he wasn’t addressing as large of a crowd, tone a bit gentler, and Minseok hoped for the best.

He told them that they had nothing to fear here. He assured them that their “service positions” were exactly that, domestic servants. Some of them would end up in the palace, some with high-ranking nobles. He told them that if they ever felt uncomfortable, if someone was making sexual advances or treating them like slaves, that they only needed to tell a policeman or army officer, and he would make sure they were safe. He assured them that these service positions were only temporary, until the war ended and they reached a treaty with their country, and mostly for the sake of housing. The housing part, Minseok was sure was a lie, but at least he didn’t feel like he was being thrown to the wolves.

The king, queen, prince, and a good number of their entourage left, but some stayed. A handful of guards and an omega.

The omega was dressed in fairly non-descript clothes, which looked like they were a servant’s uniform, but they were far richer than anything any of the captured omegas had ever worn. The omega was shorter than the guards, around Minseok’s size, with full lips, large eyes, and beautiful, thick, eyebrows. His hair was braided and twisted up into a knot that was somehow both practical and elegant.

“I’ll direct you to move to the left or the right. Your left or your right.” His voice was soft, low, but his tone said that he had authority and knew it. “Please stand a few feet away from the unsorted lines on either side.”

And he went down the rows, one by one, telling each omega whether they were to walk to the left or right of the group. Minseok breathed a sigh of relief when he, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Jongin were all told to go to the right. Whatever they were in for, they were in for it together.

Once the omega was done, he stood in the center again. He looked at the group who he’d instructed to move to the left. There was a much larger number of them than the group on the right.

“All of you will be assigned to the houses of various nobles,” he told them. “A team of guards will escort you there. You have nothing to fear.”

And then he turned to the group on the right.

“The rest of you, come with me. You’re being assigned to the palace.”

They were led out of the military compound and into the palace gates, through the courtyard, and to several outdoor baths.

“Leave your clothes at the edge of the bath,” the omega instructed them. “You’ll be given new ones.”

Minseok was not the only injured omega, and he watched the omega go around to everyone who was, squatting down next to them and talking quietly, before he came to Minseok.

“We have a medic who will dress and wrap your foot again. Those bandages are too dirty, anyway. Do you have anyone to help you get in and out of the bath?”

Minseok nodded. “My cousin.”

“Good.” And he moved on.

He helped Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Jongin wash, and re-braided their hair. A few other omegas asked him to help with their hair as well and he was happy to.

Their new clothes were simple, the same color as all the other servants, and the same material too, but the material was softer than anything Minseok had ever worn before. It wasn’t silk, of course it wasn’t, but it was smooth, felt sturdy, and wasn’t itchy or scratchy at all. They were even given shoes. Even if they weren’t new, and Minseok couldn’t tell if they were or not, they were far from worn and the sole was wonderfully thick.

Once all the omegas were dressed and the palace doctor had seen to the wounds on any injured omegas, they were led into the courtyard, where a meal had been set up for them. A small wave of excited chatter moved through the omegas. They were clean, with new clothes, and were now about to be fed: they were as happy as they could be in this situation.

“Sit where you like,” the omega told them. “But before you eat, I have a few things to say.”

They all sat down quickly, and looked towards the omega in anticipation.

“My name is Kyungsoo,” he finally told them. “I am the head of the palace servants. If you need anything or have any problems, particularly if you’re about to go into heat or if you fall ill, let me know. I’ll make sure you’re comfortable. But do not cross me. It is a privilege to work here, and his majesty is giving you all a great honor and showing a lot of trust by bringing you here. If you break that trust… I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

He paused, then continued. “After you finish eating, you’ll be given room assignments and shown to them, as I’m sure you’re tired. In the morning, we’ll discuss your duties. Now you may eat.”

There was meat, and there was a lot of it. It was good meat, too: Minseok couldn’t believe the king would order meat like this for servants, especially omegas. Even if it would only be like this for their first meal, it was a very grand gesture. Despite being inside the palace of their enemy… although due to how their own king treated them Minseok doubted that any of the omegas truly saw King Lu as their enemy, there was a lot more laughter from all of the talking groups than there had been since the first few days of their drafting into the army.

As they ate, Kyungsoo began to pair people off, either telling them personally or he got another servant to tell them that they were now roommates. Eventually he made his way to where Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, and Baekhyun were sitting.

He asked their names, and they told him.

“Baekhyun and Jongin, I’m putting you two together. After you’ve finished eating go see one of the other servants and they’ll take you to a room. Minseok and Jongdae, you’re cousins, yes?”

They both nodded.

“You’ll be rooming together. Minseok, if you’re finished, I need you to come with me.” Kyungsoo turned to Jongdae. “I’ll send him to your room in a minute, go ahead and get your room assignment when you’re done eating.”

Minseok stood up, and got his crutch positioned properly before following Kyungsoo out of the courtyard. He led Minseok down a long hallway, and was careful not to kick Minseok’s crutch.

“The doctor said you should heal and be able to walk just fine in a few days or so.”

Minseok nodded. “There was a medic, Chanyeol, who looked after me. He was very diligent about putting on new dressing.”

“Ah yes, Chanyeol. He’s a good doctor,” Kyungsoo nodded. “While your foot heals, I’ll take you through a sort of training period. Obviously you can’t do too much while one arm is occupied with a crutch.”

“Hopefully I won’t need it for much longer.”

“But there’s no need to push yourself to get rid of it before it’s time. In here, please.”

Kyungsoo opened the door to a small storage room, and Minseok stepped inside, with Kyungsoo following him.

Standing just out of sight of the door were two palace guards. Minseok was suddenly more than a little nervous.

“None of your fellow omegas will be assigned as personal servants,” Kyungsoo began. “His majesty was kind and brought all of you to the palace, but we would hardly allow omegas of an enemy nation to touch his majesty, his food, or his personal property. However, our prince, Lu Han, recently let one of his personal servants get married, and I’ve been looking for someone to fill the open position. From what I’ve seen of you, and from what I’ve been told, I think I can trust you well enough. You’re naturally nurturing, polite from what I’ve heard, and you have family here. You won’t double-cross me or Prince Lu Han.”

Minseok knew what that meant. “No, I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I’ve decided to add you to the ranks of the prince’s personal servants. Since access to the prince’s personal chambers is restricted, we use a semi-permanent marking to distinguish the prince’s servants from the others.”

Oh dear. “What is that?”

Abruptly, the two palace guards took his arms, and Minseok began to panic. He fought against their hold, his crutch clattering to the ground, and his instincts screaming that they were two alphas and he should have been much more careful. But they were much bigger than he was, and their grip was strong. He couldn’t shake them, no matter how much he thrashed.

Kyungsoo laid a rag on Minseok’s left shoulder, covering most of the cloth of his new servant uniform. He held up a silver earring, but something about it was off. The post that would go through his ear was much thicker than the posts on the delicate earrings his grandmother owned, which he understood were the normal size.

“Ear piercing,” Kyungsoo said gently. “This will hurt, but not for long.”

One of the guards placed something behind his left ear, and Kyungsoo shifted, moving his right hand closer to Minseok’s ear.

It was when Minseok saw the tool in his hand that he began to truly panic. An awl. Far too thick for this, far, far, too thick.

“You’ll be fine,” Kyungsoo said gently, but it didn’t help. The guards only held him tighter, and Minseok couldn’t help it when he started to cry.

It hurt, of course it did. The awl was sharp by most standards, but it was far duller than the needle that would normally be used for ear piercing, and so the cut through Minseok’s ear lobe was far slower than it would have been. Minseok couldn’t stop the scream in his throat, and the feeling of blood dripping down only added to it.

Kyungsoo hushed him gently, his voice almost a coo as he cleaned up, and held him gently when the guards let go.

“Come on, let’s get you to your cousin.”

Minseok didn’t really register where they were going, panic still swirling around in his head. Kyungsoo guided him down the hallways, until he was knocking and opening a door.

“What did you do to him?!” Jongdae sounded terrified and angry at the same time. He grabbed Minseok away from Kyungsoo and steered him toward a bed, holding him tightly as Minseok curled up in his lap.

Minseok heard Kyungsoo start to speak, to tell Jongdae what had happened, right before he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating for so long! I've been busy with trying to get both school work and fest fics done and it's wearing me out ^^; I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Minseok had grown used to the idea of the Lu Kingdom winning the battle. He had grown used to the idea, after so long of waking up in the medical tent, spending the day in the presence of more alphas and betas than he’d seen in his life, and certainly after the long, uncomfortable, wagon ride to the capital of the Lu Kingdom.

But waking up in the palace was a whole different thing altogether.

Minseok’s eyes were swollen and sore; he’d fallen asleep crying, so he’d expected it, but it didn’t make it any more pleasant. It was bizarre: the room he and Jongdae shared was far nicer than a tent in the army camp, and in reality it was nicer than their room back home. But it was cold, impersonal. The sheets and blanket were soft from use by servants of years past, and countless washings, but while that was similar to home, the feeling was entirely different. There was no patch near the top of the blanket made from fabric from great-grandpa’s old worn shirt, no embroidery attempts from when his auntie was small, copying the successful embroidery Grandma had made when she was a few years older. This blanket wasn’t sun-bleached or stained with homemade soju that was probably too strong for anyone who wasn’t absolutely desperate to drink.

Cold. Impersonal. Minseok didn’t belong here. None of them belonged here.

And yet, here they were. Out of kindness or cold necessity, Minseok couldn’t truly tell.

Jongdae woke up with a start, and even though his face was mostly blank when he looked around the room, Minseok could see the growing fear in his eyes.

Minseok sat up, and pushed the blanket back, opening his arms.

Jongdae was out of his bed and hugging Minseok in an instant. Minseok held onto him tightly around the shoulders with one arm, and began to rub Jongdae’s back with his free hand.

“I want to go home,” Jongdae whimpered, his voice still sleepy, childlike in a way that Jongdae hadn’t sounded in a long while. “I want Mamma.”

Even though both their mothers and fathers were omegas, both Minseok and Jongdae had always been closer to their mothers. The thought of someone coming around and telling their mothers; or of a letter being sent and the whole family crowding around uncle Jaehwan, the only living alpha and the only one in the whole house who knew how to read, and hearing that Minseok and Jongdae were not among the few returning home, and that they were either dead or had been captured by the enemy… it sent a sharp pang through Minseok, and he held onto Jongdae tighter reflexively.

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure we see them again, Jongdae,” Minseok whispered into his cousin’s hair. “I promise.”

They had slept in their newly given underclothes, and so threw their uniforms on quickly. Even with his foot wrapped, Minseok was able to put his new pants on faster than he thought. Neither one of them had a comb, so Minseok did his best to undo any tangles with his fingers before re-braiding both his and Jongdae’s hair.

“I was told there is a washroom at the end of the corridor,” Jongdae told him. “And I’m sure someone will be able to tell us what we’re supposed to do.”

They were able to wash their faces, which did Minseok a lot of good. For one thing, he didn’t want to report to Kyungsoo looking like a child away from his parents for the first time, and for another, it made him feel marginally more in control of himself.

Once they finished, one of the palace guards told them to go to the same courtyard they’d been in the previous night, and even if they hadn’t remembered the way, there was a fairly steady stream of omegas headed in the same direction. Everyone was nervous and no one had any idea what to expect. The chatter was loud, even though the corridor and path to the courtyard were fairly open, and the constant noise put Minseok on edge.

He must have tensed up too much, because Jongdae took his free hand and squeezed it gently.

“We’ll be fine,” Jongdae told him softly. “We will both be fine.”

Minseok gave him the best smile he could and nodded.

He hoped they would be fine.

Baekhyun and Jongin were already there when they reached the courtyard. Minseok knew neither one of them were particularly early risers by choice, but the army tended to make a morning person out of everyone, whether they wanted to be or not, and by now the habit was ingrained. Baekhyun ran over to hug them, and Jongin followed close behind.

“Did you two sleep well?” Minseok asked as he watched Jongin rub his eyes as he walked.

“Oh yes!” Baekhyun nodded. “I still can’t believe they have real beds for servants. I thought we’d be in army cots or worse.”

Jongin nodded. “I slept really well. It’s just a lot to take in.”

The four of them sat together like always. The food was good, and there was more of it than their army rations. There was just as much noise as there had been in the corridor and path, but this time it was happy chatter, and it was diluted by both the open space and many of the omegas being interrupted by food.

Minseok relaxed a bit. He could do this. He could deal with this.

Just then, Kyungsoo put his hand on Minseok’s shoulder, startling him.

“When you’ve finished,” Kyungsoo said softly, his breath brushing up against Minseok’s newly-pierced ear, “I need to introduce you to the prince’s other servants.”

Minseok nodded. The ball of lead in his stomach was back.

He ate quickly after that, he didn’t want to keep anyone waiting, and Jongdae squeezed his hand quickly as he stood, balancing with his crutch.

“You’ll be fine,” Jongdae told him with a small smile.

Minseok hoped he would be fine.

He walked over to where Kyungsoo was waiting for him. Next to him, there were five other people, three women and two men. The men both looked to be around his own age, but the women varied: the youngest looked to be around the same age as his little sister, while the other two were middle aged. When Minseok got closer, he could tell they were all omegas. They wore the same uniform Minseok did, and had their left ears pierced with thick silver rings, like Minseok. But Minseok noticed one thing different: their hair.

It was a small thing, such a little thing, but when Minseok was nervous he couldn’t help but focus on it. Even though they were palace servants, the other omegas all had beautiful, shiny, hair. They clearly had maintained their hair for quite some time, either by choice or through given resources. Instead of simple low braids, they all wore theirs in pretty twists, or beautiful high braids, practical but elegant. Minseok took as good of care of his hair as he could, but even the women in his family didn’t do much to maintain theirs. His hair wasn’t dirty, but it was far from shiny, and just brushed enough so that his braid laid flat. Already he felt like an uneducated farm boy amongst a bunch of rich kids, and while he _was_ an uneducated farm boy, he had hoped that, amongst fellow servants, he wouldn’t feel as different.

But whatever they saw him as, they didn’t say. All five of them were polite, with warm smiles and brief introductory bows.  

After introductions, most of Minseok’s fellow new omegas had finished eating, and even though they were going up to other supervising servants, Kyungsoo still ended up with his hands full, and so wasn’t able to walk Minseok through his duties himself like he had said he would the previous night.

“I’ll supervise later,” Kyungsoo had said as he’d waved Minseok away.

Instead of Kyungsoo, Minseok was led around by Junmyeon. After the traumatic “induction” into the ranks of the prince’s personal servants, Minseok was glad to have Junmyeon with him. Junmyeon had smiled brightly when Kyungsoo had told Minseok that if he wasn’t around, Junmyeon was in charge, and peppered the conversation with worry about Minseok’s foot. He was sweet, almost motherly in a way that was different from both Minseok and Kyungsoo: he was smiles and chatter and visible worry where Minseok showed his affection in a physical but quiet way and Kyungsoo nurtured in an almost matter of fact manner.

Junmyeon gave Minseok a much more detailed tour than Kyungsoo would have, certainly. The Princes’ rooms were fairly extensive: there was his personal bedchamber, which Minseok did not see the inside of, a lounging area in an antechamber to the inner bedchamber; a private library, private study, and several parlor areas around the wing. Some were indoors, and some on porches overlooking the view beyond the palace walls. Minseok couldn’t imagine one person needing all of it. While he took him around, Junmyeon was unnecessarily proud of Minseok for simple things: like remembering rooms and, since they were walking so much, for not needing to sit down after a few hours.

“I worked in a field for most of my life, Junmyeon.” Minseok reminded him. “Even with a wrapped foot and a crutch, this is nothing.”

Minseok wondered if Junmyeon might stop after that, but instead the comment just made him ask Minseok questions about his home life. Minseok wasn’t usually one to go on about it, the only reason Baekhyun and Jongin knew as much about him as they did was because Jongdae was a chatterbox when prompted. But Junmyeon had a way of sounding interested in every single thing, including menial jobs that Minseok had done, that made him want to tell him.

Kyungsoo had put in him on laundry duty, which was good, but the work got difficult with his foot wrapped. Actually washing the laundry wasn’t difficult: Minseok was given linens and such to wash, and sitting down at a washboard was easy on his foot. Compared to his work in the fields at home, scrubbing wasn’t difficult, even though the soap was hard on his hands. But he found he liked the repetitive nature of scrubbing and rinsing. Junmyeon sat a ways away, but they would come together and help each other wring out the wet fabric, take a break, and Junmyeon would start talking again.

The washing area was next to the river, which was close enough to the palace to still be in sight through the trees, but far enough to be a bit of a hike. While Minseok’s foot was wrapped, their guard had to carry the washboard, while Junmyeon took all of the laundry. Minseok might have been able to manage carrying laundry in a pack on his back, but the river was down a hill from the palace, and the hill steep enough that Minseok had to take care maneuvering with his crutch, and he was grateful that he didn’t have any weight on his back to contend with.

Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work on laundry and observe how other duties were carried out until he was physically able to assist, have an evening meal, observe evening duties, and then sleep again. Usually there was about an hour or so for Minseok to get to talk to Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Jongin before they all went to bed, but that varied depending on how tired they were after a very long day. For Minseok’s own part, while constantly being on his feet with the crutch under his arm hurt (he was pretty sure his upper arm around his armpit was bruised) he had had harder days during the harvesting season. He could handle this.

He didn’t see the prince for quite a while. A large part of the reason was because of his assigned duties, since he was primarily getting the laundry directly from whoever had cleaned the prince’s bedchamber that morning, or other linens that needed freshening and he didn’t have a reason to be in the prince’s wing during the day. While Minseok was observing evening duties, and later helping once his foot was healed enough that he didn’t need the crutch to walk any longer, the prince was either away or in his bed chamber or private library. The other reason was that, for a large portion of the time, the prince just wasn’t in the palace.

“Prince Lu Han isn’t an officer of the army or anything like that,” Junmyeon told him. “But he’s been training in tactics under several of the generals for several years now, and his majesty the king thought that now would be a good opportunity for him to gain practical experience.”

“So he’s been going to different battle sites?”

Junmyeon nodded. “Battle sites, even though he doesn’t actually get into combat: he’s the only heir to the throne, after all; and general meetings regarding the war when he is here.”

“No wonder I’ve never seen him beyond when we first came here.”

“Well, there’s time enough. This war can’t last forever.”

No, the war could not last forever. Minseok knew there weren’t enough omegas in his home country for that. Minseok wondered how far back the battle lines would be drawn. Would they get further and further inside his country’s borders until they were fighting inside the capital? Minseok had no doubt that his kingdom would lose compared to the Lu’s, he’d known that from the beginning. They wouldn’t draft the alphas, or even the betas, until absolutely necessary, and even though omegas were not all weak, he knew the army commanders wouldn’t learn from the loss of the first battle. They wouldn’t train the omegas properly, wouldn’t feed them well. Wouldn’t allow them proper care during heats. Minseok, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Jongin had almost died from dehydration during their heats because all four of them had synched up within days of each other. Jongdae had disobeyed orders first, in order to tend to Minseok, and then Baekhyun and Jongin had disobeyed when Jongdae’s heat started not long after. Minseok had no doubt that more omegas would fall victim to the same rules.

No, there would not be enough omegas for the war to last forever.

Minseok wanted to ask, but at the same time he didn’t dare, how the Lu’s invaded cities. Did they only go after the government buildings and leave the homes and businesses of the people alone? Did they only kill those who resisted? Or did they burn everything and kill everyone? It was the only thing he was afraid of: he knew the farms would be reached first. Would his and Jongdae’s family be safe? Would there be anything left for them to live off of? Or would the Lu’s ride through and burn everything that they didn’t take for supplies, leaving the families to die during winter if they didn’t kill them in the process already?

It was a worry in his mind, in the minds of all the captured omegas, but even in the palace of the Lu’s, there was nothing they could do about it. Life in the palace went on. Minseok’s foot healed, and he was able to properly join the ranks of the prince’s personal servants. His workload increased, but he liked it. He felt a bit more in control again, able to carry things on his own, have two free hands even while he was standing, walk or run at faster speeds. He could race Jongdae to the courtyard for their morning meal, or tickle Baekhyun into submission when the younger omega thought it was a good idea to try to wrestle him. Kyungsoo was pleased with his work: Minseok was strong enough to move heavier objects by himself than Junmyeon or any of the prince’s other servants could alone: sure there were some things that no one could lift by themselves, but when it came to heavy objects he didn’t tire as quickly. Even with his other duties, he could now properly contribute without help no matter what the task was.

“I knew I was right about you,” Kyungsoo told him once. And then he’d given Minseok his highest praise: he’d smiled.

It had been well over two months since Minseok and the other captured omegas had come to the palace when Minseok’s responsibilities increased quite a bit. One of the prince’s other servants, Yerim, the youngest girl, received word that her grandfather was very ill and she needed to come home.

Of course Kyungsoo let her go. The other women helped her pack her things, and Kyungsoo assured her that her position would still be open for her when she returned. Minseok was relieved for Yerim at that: he knew that most head servants would not have been that generous, whether they were allowed to be or not. Barely a day after Yerim had left, Kyungsoo pulled Minseok aside.

“I want you to take on some of Yerim’s responsibilities.”

Minseok paled. He knew what Yerim did: she and Junmyeon were usually the ones to serve the prince his meals and anything else he might ask for, help him dress in the mornings, undress in the evenings, brush and style his hair… essentially, the most public things. Yes Junmyeon had helped Minseok with the washing but that had not taken all day.

He knew from talking to Junmyeon that it took training. Training that Minseok didn’t have, and had barely had any exposure to. Minseok had seen his grandmother dress in her fine hanbok for holidays and special festivals, but he’d barely been allowed to touch it, much less know how it was put together. His own clothes took no preparation. They weren’t made of fine material and were designed to be work clothes: easy to put on, sturdy enough not to pull or rip doing most things, and didn’t need any extra care. He knew the prince’s clothes would be none of those things. As for brushing and styling hair… Minseok’s hair didn’t even look like Junmyeon’s or Kyungsoo’s: how was he supposed to know how to brush and style the prince’s hair? And that wasn’t even counting serving food…

“I can hear you panicking,” Kyungsoo interrupted his train of thought. His voice was gentle, and he reached out and took Minseok’s hand. “I will help you. Junmyeon will help you. You will be fine.”

Minseok doubted that very much.

Jongdae sided with Kyungsoo. Minseok told him, Jongin, and Baekhyun during dinner, but Jongdae didn’t get a chance to talk about it with him until they were going to bed. Their room was dark, the moonlight was barely shining in through the screen covering the window, and Minseok couldn’t see Jongdae’s face, only the spot where he was on his bed, although, since their room wasn’t very big, his voice was still close when he spoke.

“It’s going to take a lot of work,” Jongdae said. “This is stuff we’ve never even had to think about before. I know you’re worried about it, I would be too.”

Minseok nodded.

“You’ve never been afraid of hard work, Minseok. At home, in the army… you always jumped in to help, to figure it out. You’re smart, Minseok. We might not be educated but you’re smart. We’ve all had to adapt, and you’re one of the best at it. I think you’ll be able to do it. It’ll take a lot to learn, but you’ll be okay.”

“Thank you, Jongdae,” Minseok whispered, and leaned over to kiss his forehead. He was still unsure, but having his cousin’s confidence helped ease the worry in his brain some.

Ultimately, Jongdae and Kyungsoo were right. They started with serving food and drinks, and made sure that Minseok knew enough to not make a fool of himself. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to make pouring tea look as delicate as Junmyeon made it look, though. Junmyeon had beautiful hands: even though he’d worked a lot, they still looked nice and the backs of his hands, at least, looked soft. Minseok was no fool: he knew that, even if his hands were pampered like the prince’s, they would never look remotely soft: he’d been working in the fields since he was old enough to walk and help plant.

Before Minseok felt like he was ready: it was time for his first “test.” The prince had company, and had called for tea. Junmyeon walked with him, carrying one tray while Minseok carried a second. Minseok vaguely watched Junmyeon out of the corner of his eye, to make sure he knew where he was going, but he was mostly staring at the teapot on his tray, hoping desperately that he wasn’t going to spill anything. Slow, careful steps…

“Minseok, you can walk faster than that,” Junmyeon smiled. He stopped to let Minseok catch up with him and murmured encouragement as they approached the parlor.

They stopped just outside the door, and Minseok could hear voices through it, but couldn’t make out what was being said.

“Prince Lu Han!” Junmyeon called out. “May we come in?”

“Of course!” Came the reply.

Junmyeon opened the door with his foot: wiggling it open with his toe before he caught it on his heel and opened it wider, letting Minseok in ahead of him. His movements were so smooth: Minseok didn’t think he would ever be able to copy that without dropping everything. Minseok kept his eyes down the teapot; his heart was pounding and he just knew that everyone could see that he barely had an idea of what he was doing…

Junmyeon whispered in his ear: “set it on the table next to the prince.”

Minseok knew the wisdom in that: with Minseok pouring for the prince, only he would see if he did something wrong, as opposed to a guest being on the receiving end. On the other hand, Minseok did not want to mess up in front of the prince, of all people. But that was what Junmyeon told him to do, so he finally looked up to see where the prince was sitting.

There were two men around his own age visiting the prince. They were sitting separated enough from the prince that two small tables were perfectly necessary, but close enough for easy conversation. When Minseok got closer, he could tell one was an alpha and one a beta. The beta had a sweet, slightly sleepy-looking, face, and smiled gently at him when he caught Minseok looking. The alpha was broader, with a handsome face that looked like it belonged on a statue, but he didn’t look unfriendly.

“Junmyeon, my love!” The beta said in a teasing, overdramatic, voice as he flung his arms open. “Come here to me!”

“Give me a minute, Lord Yixing, or hot tea will be coming with me,” Junmyeon told him.

Minseok refocused on the prince and almost dropped the tea tray. The prince was staring at him, his eyes almost comically wide but intensely focused. Minseok couldn’t quite tell if the expression on his face was interest or something else, but there was nothing he could do about it: he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.

He was aware of Prince Lu Han staring at him, at his face, while Minseok poured the tea for him. It was very nerve-wracking, and Minseok couldn’t help how his hands shook, but he still managed to pour the tea without spilling. He set the teapot down gently, without making much noise, and stepped back. He bowed deeply to the prince, and gave a second bow, not quite as deep, to his guests, before he hurried out of the room. He would wait for Junmyeon outside, since the man was currently being cuddled by the beta, Lord Yixing, but Minseok thought that if he didn’t get out of the room quickly he wouldn’t be able to breathe.

Why had the prince stared at him so intensely?

After dinner, Kyungsoo found him as he was heading back to the prince’s wing. He looked like he’d been laughing, a smile still on his face and his voice was light when he spoke.

“I want you to join Junmyeon while he sees to the prince tonight.”

“What?” Minseok thought his eyes might fall out of his head. “I’m not ready for that; I haven’t learned anything about how to store clothes or etiquette for undressing, or-“

Kyungsoo cut him off with a laugh and by holding up his hand for Minseok to be quiet.

“I don’t think that will be necessary just yet. Junmyeon will give you simple instructions for now. But as soon as Prince Lu Han’s guests left today he came and found me. He wanted all the information I had about you.”

“He did?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I haven’t seen him like this in a long time, it’s hilarious. He was trying to be subtle, but he’s asked me to have you start attending to him personally.”

“But what if I do something wrong?”

“Even if you do, I highly doubt he’ll mind. Prince Lu Han is really very lenient, to the point of being frustrating, sometimes.”

“But what about…”

“Minseok.” Kyungsoo cut him off. “Calm down. You have the prince’s attention in the best way possible. Everything else will come in time.”

He certainly had the prince’s attention, but he wasn’t sure how much of a good thing that was just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I've been getting bogged down with grad school stuff, and then holiday prep ^^; I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Sorry, I meant to get this posted yesterday but a lot happened and so finishing this chapter did not ^^;
> 
> WARNING: Public caning scene.

Time passed, and the war slowly but surely drew to a close. Minseok got snatches and snippets of what was happening from Prince Lu Han when he was home, but he didn’t dare ask further. From what Minseok heard, it was happening as he predicted. His home kingdom was still only using omegas as foot soldiers, and the battle lines were being pushed farther and farther into his home kingdom’s borders.

The Lu’s took three major ports and trade cities within the course of about two weeks and there was a massive banquet after Prince Lu Han and the generals arrived back to the palace. Minseok assisted with cleaning and decorations beforehand. All of the captured omegas were left on cleaning and decoration duty: while they had all found their places in the palace, as well as friends in the Lu kingdom, no one wanted to take the chance with anyone, even an omega, from an enemy nation handling food. When news first reached the palace, it had started as a whisper, ghosting from captured omega to captured omega, until anxiety whipped through all of them like wind from a storm. The Three Cities had fallen. The Lu’s had managed to take the Three Cities.

The day of the banquet, the day that everyone returned, they had the palace shining with the care put into it. There were even streamers on some of the trees and archways, and bouquets of fresh flowers were put all over the dining hall. It was beautiful, and festive, but it left a weird feeling in Minseok’s stomach. He had no love for his king, or the government in general, he didn’t know the strategies behind the Lu’s movements in battle beyond taking land and blocking supplies; but he knew that the three taken cities had been full of omegas living on the streets. What had become of them? Had they been captured? Brought to one of the other cities in the Lu kingdom as servants like the omega soldiers were? Had the army ignored them? Had they been left to rot, no better or worse off? Or had they been killed? Had there been too many and the Lu’s hadn’t wanted to deal with them? Minseok had no love for his king, but he had a lot of love for his people, and he could see on the faces of all the other captured omegas that they were feeling the same unease that he was. Here they were, cleaning and decorating the palace of the enemy, to celebrate a decisive victory in the war against their own country.

It was early afternoon when the call came through the palace:

“They’ve been spotted! The company is almost to the city!”

Not long after, Junmyeon came and found him.

“Minseok, come with me. We need to make sure Prince Lu Han’s rooms are tidy.”

Minseok knew for a fact they were tidy. Minseok and Junmyeon had cleaned and tidied it daily, so that no dust even had a chance to build up. The only thing to be done was change out the bed linens for fresh ones; but he let Junmyeon pull him along to Prince Lu Han’s personal wing as always. The work would go faster with two, at least.

Minseok had gotten more confident with some of his new duties. With the Prince gone more often than not, Minseok had time to practice and train without fear of messing up terribly in front of him. Junmyeon was a gentle, patient, teacher, and while Minseok was still feeling nervous about many of his tasks, mostly anything that involved much eye contact or _touching_ , he was no longer nervous about _all_ of them.

The two of them changed the bed linens: it was easier together, and they’d left it until now so that the linens would be as fresh as possible when Prince Lu Han returned. Minseok had practiced and practiced until he was nearly as fast and efficient at it as Junmyeon, and he was proud of his work.

He helped Junmyeon lay out formal clothes for Prince Lu Han for the banquet, and set out a pretty, intricate, hair pin. Minseok was worried about snagging the fabric with the callouses on his hands, but it wasn’t an issue. Still, he was careful to handle the clothes gently, and touch them as little as possible.

“Relax, Minseok,” Junmyeon smiled at him. “It’s not going to rip just from putting it on the bed. I thought you said your grandmother had a hanbok?”

“She wore it for special occasions only,” Minseok muttered. “And Jongdae and I weren’t allowed to touch it.”

Junmyeon just laughed and took his hand to pull him out of the room.

“Come on,” he said, once the door was closed behind them. “I’ll help you fix your hair a bit.”

“For what?” Minseok asked.

“Did you forget that we’re going to greet Prince Lu Han?”

If it were possible for Minseok to choke on his own spit, he would have.

“Minseok, you’re one of Prince Lu Han’s servants,” Junmyeon told him gently. “Of course you’re included.”

Minseok had kept the thought of this being a temporary position in the forefront of his brain. He murmured it to Jongdae every morning, and at the exact same time felt guilty being so friendly with Junmyeon because of it. Minseok was only going to be in the palace, in the Lu Kingdom, for the duration of the war. He was an omega of the enemy nation… why should he be in the entourage to greet the Prince and arriving generals?

But he let Junmyeon pull him into his bedroom, which was around the same size as Minseok’s and Jongdae’s own, but had far more clothes and trinkets packed into it, and attempt to do something with his hair. By the time he was done, Kyungsoo was yelling at them to hurry to the palace gate. Junmyeon had only managed to get Minseok’s hair into another braid, but it was nicer, without any strange bumps, because his hair had been brushed smooth.

If Junmyeon was telling him that he was supposed to greet the Prince, then that meant that Kyungsoo said he was supposed to. Who was he to tell them no? Kyungsoo liked him, Minseok knew he did, but when was that ever a guarantee of anything?

Minseok kept his eyes down as the entourage of servants followed a good distance behind the King and Queen out to the fort. He didn’t know what the protocol for this was, so he just watched the heels of one of the Queen’s servants and kept Junmyeon in the corner of his vision.

“You can look up, Minseok,” Junmyeon whispered. “It’s okay.”

The force that had taken the Three Cities was truly massive. Minseok couldn’t help but be afraid when he saw the lines upon lines of soldiers, officers, and multiple generals. This was the force that had marched in and taken the cities that were thought to be a major opposing force for any invader, and just looking at them, Minseok had no doubt in his mind that they had done it easily.

If his own king cared for the lives of his people at all, he’d surrender soon. There was no hope winning against the Lu army.

Minseok just hoped he would have a home to go back to.

The King’s speech was grander than when Minseok had first arrived, and there was more ceremony to it. But there was a reason for there to be: not only was it a major accomplishment, but more important, the most important, people were involved.

Minseok watched Lu Han bow to his father, but once the royal family had left the fort, the prince was all smiles. Minseok could tell by the way Lu Han moved and talked, even if he was behind him and couldn’t see his face. He was already starting to tell stories to his father and walked close to his mother, so much so that if Lu Han hadn’t been wearing different colored clothes, Minseok didn’t think he’d be able to tell where one person ended and the other began.

When they approached the prince’s wing, Lu Han did move away from his parents. He seemed to be in the middle of a story, but there wasn’t much time before the banquet.

“Finish telling me after,” the Queen smiled, and patted his cheek.

Minseok, along with the rest of Lu Han’s entourage, split away from the larger servant group to follow Lu Han. The others went back to their regular jobs, but Minseok and Junmyeon followed Lu Han into his bedchamber.

As soon as the three of them were inside with the door closed, Lu Han let out a happy sigh, and immediately flopped down onto his bed.

“It’s good to be home.”

“We’re glad to have you back,” Junmyeon said with a smile, and Minseok nodded when Lu Han turned to look at him.

The two of them helped Lu Han get ready. There wasn’t enough time for him to have a bath, but he could at least wash his face. Minseok started to go and fetch the water, but Lu Han stopped him.

“Minseok, would you stay and help me undress?”

Lu Han blushed slightly as he said it and Junmyeon rolled his eyes before he left the room.

Minseok tried to stay focused on what he was doing while he undressed Lu Han. He was still worried about snagging the fabric, but that wasn’t his main issue. He could feel Lu Han staring at him, and it was more than a little distracting. Both of them were completely silent and Minseok was positive Lu Han could hear his heart beating.

“What did you do while I was gone?” Lu Han asked, finally breaking the quiet.

“Practiced, mostly,” Minseok told him. “Yerim did a lot of work that I’ve never done before. I’m made for field work, not anything delicate.”

“I think you’re doing just fine,” Lu Han told him. “You’re still learning, but you’re not making any noticeable mistakes.”

“Thank you,” Minseok murmured, and he could feel a blush spreading over his face.

“You’re cute when you blush,” Lu Han said, and Minseok could just tell he was smiling.

Minseok was trying to decide if he should reply or not, when Junmyeon came back in.

“Don’t go scaring Minseok off,” Junmyeon scolded. “If he goes anywhere I won’t have anyone to help me deal with you.”

Lu Han pouted, but it was clear he was teasing, as Minseok moved away, taking Lu Han’s outer clothes with him. Lu Han washed his face and some of his upper body while Minseok and Junmyeon got Lu Han’s banquet clothes in order.

Minseok knew what order they went in, but putting them on was a different story. Lu Han stayed still while Minseok held garments in place and Junmyeon taught him how the more formal garments were tied.

Lu Han smiled at him when he and Junmyeon finished, and Minseok fought down another blush. He started to move off to the side so Junmyeon could brush and style Lu Han’s hair, but Lu Han had a different idea.

“Minseok? Will you try brushing my hair tonight?”

“But I haven’t…” Minseok had barely practiced this, and he did not want to mess up Lu Han’s hair or hurt him somehow.

“I’ll be right here,” Junmyeon patted his shoulder.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Minseok looked up at Lu Han. “My hands are rough.”

“I’ll let you know if you need to stop,” Lu Han assured him, and sat down.

Lu Han didn’t tell him to stop. Minseok knew for a fact he wasn’t doing as good a job as Junmyeon, nor as quick of a job, but Lu Han didn’t seem to mind. Junmyeon helped him style Lu Han’s hair; he usually wore it in the same style most days, but his hair was so long that it took a minute, and he was ready.

“See?” Lu Han smiled up at him. “You did just fine.”

“Thank you.” This time Minseok couldn’t suppress a blush.

The wind of anxiety among the captured didn’t slow, not during the banquet while they ate dinner on their own, and not in the days and weeks following, as the war drew to a close. Not all of the omegas were anxious; some, like Baekhyun, either had nothing to go back to or didn’t like where they’d come from in the first place. They all knew the Lu’s would win, there had never been any way they wouldn’t, but any final chances had been dashed when they’d taken the Three Cities. And now it was just a question of what was to be done with them, the captured omegas. Technically they were prisoners of war, but all of them highly doubted their king would make an effort to get them back. It was all up to the Lu’s. Would they send them home? Would they give them a choice? Would they want to keep them?

Minseok couldn’t help but be torn. Jongdae was desperate to go home, and Minseok wanted to see his mother, and the rest of his family, again, but at the same time… already, he knew, he would miss Lu Han. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo too, Junmyeon was someone Minseok considered a friend, and Kyungsoo was a bit distant because of his position as the head of staff but was kind in his own way; but Lu Han was the first to come to mind.

The prince was kind, thoughtful, gentle, and endlessly curious. He paid attention to Minseok, noticed when he was tired or when something was wrong. If it was something physical, he asked Minseok to come sit with him, whether he was sitting on a bench or had to pull a second cushion close to him. There had even been times when Minseok had fallen asleep on Lu Han’s shoulder. At first he had been apologetic and a little afraid, but Lu Han had calmed him down and assured him that he didn’t need to worry about it. If what was wrong was something on Minseok’s mind, he would talk with him. Not always about whatever it was directly, but he had a way of getting to it.

Minseok’s job, his purpose for having been tended to by an enemy nation, was to keep Lu Han happy. He spent so much of his waking hours around Lu Han or doing something for Lu Han. When Lu Han was everything Minseok admired, Minseok didn’t think it was a wonder that he’d become fond.

Life at the palace ebbed and flowed. Lu Han stayed home a lot more, and there were a greater number of social gatherings to prepare for. Minseok got much better at his tasks, though he still wanted Junmyeon nearby for help. Junmyeon would stay far enough away, though, that all he did was give Minseok verbal instruction, making him go through the actual motions himself. It was a good learning tool, even though it made Minseok nervous.

Just as Minseok knew it would, the war ended. Over a year after he, Jongdae, and their fellow captured omegas had come to the palace, and the war was finally over. The actual date of the surrender passed quietly in the palace, and the celebrations only started when a messenger boy: rosy-cheeked, panting, with both he and his horse sweating enough to make a lake, brought the news to the king.

Lu Han left the morning after with his father’s instructions for surrender terms. An excited murmur made its way over the captive omegas. The war was over. They could go home, to their families. There were several who weren’t particularly excited, but they were quiet and knew better than to tread on anyone’s happiness and excitement.

“I might beg Kyungsoo to ask to keep me here,” Baekhyun said thoughtfully one evening, while they ate dinner. “He likes me, I’m sure he’d go for it.”

“He looks like he wants to smack you every time you open your mouth!” Jongdae laughed.

“He smiled at me the other day!”

“Cause you tripped and fell on your ass!”

Minseok couldn’t help but smile while he watched the two of them bicker. He’d mollify the two of them later, but they were teasing each other more than anything.

Eight days, several hours, and who knew how many minutes later, Lu Han and his entourage came back with the rest of the army. Minseok felt like he was in a whirlwind with all the preparations being made. None of the captured omegas knew what was going to happen to them, but Kyungsoo had told him that after the banquet was done he would read it to them, so they tried their best to concentrate on their work.

“We’re going to get to go home,” Jongdae told Minseok, his smile beautiful and bright.

Ceremony after ceremony, one banquet, then another… they were quiet through it all. The royal celebrations, and the celebrations the royals attended, were long and drawn out. It was days before one quiet evening saw all the captured omegas gathered in the courtyard, almost unnaturally silent and still, waiting with baited breath for Kyungsoo to read them their fate.

Kyungsoo started off with the sections on the economy, which very few of them understood, but from what Minseok could gather, the Lu’s now had the country’s economy in the palm of their hand. Trade agreements, import tariffs, docking, port entry, and shipping fees… One wrong move, and the Lu’s could crush them.

Although, as had been seen from the results of the war, it hadn’t taken much for the Lu’s to crush them anyway. Only now less people died from the actual process, never mind from the results.

They were still as statues as Kyungsoo read off their personal fate. Minseok felt like a statue as he stayed frozen in place, the butterflies in his stomach turning into lead weights one by one as his heart dropped lower and lower. He could feel Jongdae begin to shake next to him, and Minseok wanted to hold his hand, but he didn’t feel like he could move.

Everyone was dead silent. Not even a sob rang out among the entire group.

The Lu’s were keeping them. Their own king had negotiated for it, that they be kept. They were subjects of the Lu’s now, with modified rights, which would be transferred into full rights as subjects in ten years, or if they married, whichever came first.

For at least ten years, they couldn’t go home.

They were silent, completely silent, as they trudged back to their rooms. None of them spoke, they just walked with their heads down, mouths closed. The usually noisy halls were silent, save for the sound of feet shuffling. There were no sniffles yet, no sobs. Just dozens and dozens of shuffling feet. Minseok laced his fingers in with Jongdae’s, and he could feel his cousin trembling. It was like both of them were in a trance as they shuffled towards their room.

The spell was broken as soon as they closed the door. Minseok grabbed Jongdae as soon as Jongdae let out a sob. Sobs turned into full-fledged crying, and all Minseok could do was hold him. He sat them both down on his own bed, and pulled Jongdae close. Jongdae didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to; he just clung to Minseok’s shirt and cried into his chest.  

After a while, Jongdae’s tears slowed, and Minseok managed to get him to lay down. Minseok’s bed was too small for two, but that didn’t matter when Jongdae was clinging. All Minseok could do was gently run his fingers through Jongdae’s hair, but that just made Jongdae begin crying all over again.

Eventually, the two of them fell asleep.

The escape attempts started that night. Minseok knew the first ones were not well-planned, they didn’t have time to be. Still it was frightening how quickly they were caught, crying or fighting or a combination of the two, and publicly dismissed. Palace guards would drag them in front of a quickly assembled group of omegas, all of the captured omegas and some of the regular servants, and a furious Kyungsoo, who dismissed them from there. But they weren’t dismissed to be sent home, no, instead they were sent elsewhere in the Lu kingdom. After the first wave of dismissals, Kyungsoo told them where.

“Serving his Majesty the King is a high honor.” Kyungsoo looked remarkably composed, even when it was clear he was seething. “It is a position not entrusted to most, including those born in the Lu kingdom. By choosing you for this position I placed my trust in you. Working at the palace is a privilege many across the kingdom work to earn, and I will not stand by while you step and spit on the achievements of the servants surrounding you. If you do not wish to serve your new king here, you will serve him in the fields.”

By now, they all knew, they had all heard from other palace servants, about the fields. They were vast and rich, but the work was hard. Not only the work, but the conditions in which the field workers lived and ate. Some of the field bosses, often former prison guards or demoted military officers, were harsh, others gentler, but it didn’t change the fact that field workers were only scraping by at best. For country omegas like Minseok and Jongdae, it was the promise of a difficult ten years. For the city omegas who weren’t used to hard labor, it might be a death sentence.

Minseok could feel Jongdae boiling next to him, and squeezed his cousin’s hand. Exhaustion settled into Minseok’s bones, and he desperately hoped Jongdae wouldn’t try running. He knew Jongdae was angry, he had a right to be, but Minseok knew he couldn’t live without his cousin.

All Minseok could do was keep working. Keep working, attending to Lu Han, and pretend that everything was okay. If he kept pretending long enough, he told himself, then eventually it would be truth. So he did his tasks with a smile on his face and did his best to sound cheerful whenever he spoke to Lu Han. Junmyeon looked worried, and there were several times when he tried to talk to Minseok seriously, but Minseok never let him. He brushed it off and pretended to have forgotten to do something.

Pretend like he wasn’t about to burst into tears at any given moment. Pretend like he was perfectly happy with his situation. Pretend like he wasn’t exhausted. Pretend that the combination of Jongdae’s anger, his own emotions, the expectations of everyone around him, and his own desperation weren’t spreading him too thin until he thought he might wisp away in the wind.

Pretend, and eventually, so it would be. At least, that was what he told himself.

More attempts, more dismissals. The ranks of the captured palace omegas were growing thinner and thinner. With it, tension in the air rose, until the entire palace, or at least the palace staff, seemed to be waiting on the edge of a cliff, leaning forward to look over the edge.

Through it all, Minseok kept himself busy. So busy that he forgot to pay attention to what was happening around him, or the emotions of the people closest to him. He was cleaning some of Lu Han’s more formal clothes, when Junmyeon came running, wide-eyed and out of breath.

“Minseok,” he panted. “Your room. They caught Jongdae planning.”

No.

Minseok threw everything down and ran.

He could not lose Jongdae.

He ran through the halls. It wasn’t long before he could hear the commotion.

Anything but Jongdae. He could endure anything happening to him, but he could not lose Jongdae.

At first he had to push through the crowd, but when people realized it was him, they parted quickly, pulling those in front of them to the side so Minseok could get through.

“Kyungsoo, please!” Minseok cried out as he ran into his and Jongdae’s room.

There were several alpha palace guards, and Minseok had to slip past them to get into the room, but they let him in. Minseok took a small moment to look around and figure out what was going on.

Kyungsoo was furious, and Jongdae didn’t look sorry in the slightest. Jongdae was angry too, and Minseok was just glad Kyungsoo wasn’t making the decision to dismiss him at that exact moment. Jongdae was yelling at him outright, and Minseok knew he was pouring out every single thought he had about the terms of surrender, the injustice of it, the way that they were treated like nothing more than cattle. Kyungsoo yelling back at him that that was the way it had always been, nothing he could do would change it, and that he might think of the family he had here.

Behind Jongdae, on his bed, was a small pack of things. Rations, a small water cask, rope… materials to run away with. It wasn’t much, but Minseok had no doubt Jongdae could do it. He was clever, he could be crafty when he wanted to; if he could have gotten past the guards, gotten out of the palace and out of the city, Minseok had no doubt that Jongdae could have made it home.

And it was likely that Kyungsoo knew it too.

Minseok didn’t think, he just threw himself between Kyungsoo and Jongdae. He bowed onto the floor at Kyungsoo’s feet.

“Kyungsoo, please!” Minseok begged, his face still into the floor. “Please don’t dismiss him!”

“Stand up, Minseok.” Kyungsoo didn’t sound angry, but his voice was eerily calm, almost flat.

Minseok stood. He met Kyungsoo’s eyes for a moment, but then dropped his gaze.

“Did you know about this, Minseok?”

“No! No, I swear to you, I didn’t! Kyungsoo, please, if I had known I would have talked him out of it, he didn’t mean to disrespect-“

“Yes he did.”

No, no no no no…

Kyungsoo turned to face the gathered crowd of palace servants. “All of you get to the courtyard! Now!”

“Kyungsoo,” Minseok looked him in the eyes. “Punish me instead! Please don’t dismiss him, punish me instead!”

Kyungsoo slowly, almost gently, took Minseok’s hand.

“Both of you come with me to the courtyard.”

Minseok felt nothing as they walked to the courtyard. Kyungsoo had not let go of his hand, and Minseok had taken Jongdae’s hand in his other one, so the three omegas walked together, the alpha guards just behind them. Minseok knew they were passing through hallways, passing people, but he took nothing in. His eyes didn’t focus on anything, he heard nothing, he barely even felt Kyungsoo’s and Jongdae’s hands. He just walked. One foot in front of the other. Step by step.

He couldn’t do this without Jongdae. He could not.

Everything snapped back uncomfortably quickly, like jumping into cold water, when they reached the courtyard. Kyungsoo let go of Minseok’s hand, and Minseok didn’t protest. Looking at the crowd, Minseok thought this might actually be everyone, certainly all of the captured omegas and possibly most of the regular servants, and the idea was terrifying. Junmyeon was in the crowd and Minseok couldn’t tell from the look in his eyes what was about to happen, if Junmyeon even knew. Baekhyun and Jongin near the front, looking terrified. They might not depend on Jongdae as much as Minseok did, but they certainly didn’t want to lose him either.

Minseok and Jongdae stood a few paces behind Kyungsoo, an alpha guard on either side of them. Kyungsoo was calm in front of them, and Minseok tried to take comfort in knowing that they weren’t dealing with an angry, seething, Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo started talking, explaining to those who didn’t know what was going on, although with how news spread it was unlikely that anyone didn’t know what had happened. Minseok held his breath when Kyungsoo finished.

“Fortunately, we will not have a dismissal today.” Kyungsoo said, and turned to look at Jongdae and Minseok.

The adrenaline and fear coursing through Minseok didn’t let that register.

“But, Kim Jongdae, you were still planning on running, and that cannot go unpunished.”

Maybe it was good that Minseok hadn’t started to feel relieved yet.

An alpha guard stepped forward and handed Kyungsoo a switch. The switch was made of bamboo, and Minseok gripped Jongdae’s hand tightly, his eyes widening. The switch was not particularly thick, not enough to be a cane, but it was still bamboo and Minseok knew it would be very painful.

Kyungsoo stayed turned toward the two of them, and talked to them like they were the only two in the entire courtyard. But it was deathly quiet, and Minseok knew that everyone would hear him.

“The punishment is ten strikes.”

The alpha guards separated the two of them.

“But, Jongdae, you will not be receiving them.”

Jongdae started to speak, but Kyungsoo kept going.

“Minseok, as you know, told me to punish him instead, so he will be receiving your strikes.”

Jongdae began to protest, and Minseok could hear that he was speaking, as one of the alpha guards dragged him out of reach, but all he could really hear was his own heart beating.

This was going to hurt very badly, but he had asked for it.

The alpha guard next to him held his arms over his head. He couldn’t brace himself on anything, and he didn’t like feeling this vulnerable in the hands of an alpha. But maybe that was part of it.

Minseok didn’t know if the guard had been told to position him just so that he could see Jongdae, or if it was an accident. Jongdae was looking frantically back and forth between him and Kyungsoo. Minseok could see his mouth moving, he knew he was protesting, but he couldn’t register what he was saying. The only sound that registered in his ears were that of his own heartbeat.

“One.”

And Kyungsoo’s voice.

The cloth of his uniform didn’t act as any kind of a shield. It was a sharp pain that left a sharp ache, and Minseok couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

“Two.”

Kyungsoo was not gentle, but he was also not a sadist. Minseok knew Kyungsoo wasn’t enjoying this at all, and he didn’t drag it out. But still, each strike hurt very badly and the fear and adrenaline coursing through Minseok focused on it. He knew he was shaking, but there was nothing he could do about it. He kept his eyes on Jongdae, and finally his cousin locked his eyes onto his. He was still protesting, his tone of voice sounded like he was begging now, but Minseok couldn’t hear the words.

Just his own heartbeat, Kyungsoo’s voice, and his own cries of pain.

And then, both suddenly and after what seemed like forever, it was over. The alpha guard was letting his arms down, and Minseok couldn’t help but cradle them to his chest. It was only then that he looked up.

His stomach dropped. Lu Han was watching from the upper hallway. A different kind of fear blossomed in Minseok’s chest. What if Lu Han thought he had tried to run? What if Lu Han thought Minseok had betrayed his trust?

He watched Lu Han watch him, just before someone took his arm and led him away. A moment later he realized it was Chanyeol, the medic.

“Come with me,” Chanyeol told him softly. “We’ll go back to your room.”

Chanyeol walked with Minseok and Jongdae back to their room, and the three were completely silent, until the door closed.

Jongdae burst into tears, and Minseok coaxed him into cuddling on the bed, shifting so that he was in a good position for Chanyeol to check him over. Jongdae apologized over and over again, and Minseok hushed him gently, letting him cry into Minseok’s chest and cling while Minseok ran his fingers through Jongdae’s hair.

“I’m so sorry,” Jongdae said through tears and sobs. “I wasn’t… I was so angry. I wasn’t thinking… all I was thinking was that I could prepare, and leave first, and then work on getting you out from home. All I wanted was to get back to mom, dad, auntie…”

“I know,” Minseok assured him. “It’s okay. None of this is fair. None of this is right. I don’t like it either. But I can’t lose you. We have to do what they tell us until we can go home.”

Even as Minseok said it, he felt a pang of guilt in his gut. He missed his family, he missed his mother most of all, but when he thought of leaving, he immediately thought of Lu Han. He wanted to see his family, but he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t want to leave Lu Han either.

Eventually, Jongdae fell asleep, and Minseok eased himself out of his grip.

“You’ll be sore for a while,” Chanyeol whispered to him, unusually solemn, “but you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” Minseok whispered back. “Will you stay with him? I have to… I have to go.”

Chanyeol nodded, and Minseok left the room, closing the door quietly.

He needed to breathe, he needed to think, he needed…

 _Lu Han_.

Minseok didn’t let his mind concentrate on needing Lu Han, or why that was what popped into his brain. But he did need to make sure there wasn’t a misunderstanding.

He didn’t run into anyone on the way to Lu Han’s wing, not even Junmyeon, and he was grateful. He couldn’t deal with talking to anyone else right now. His mind was a whirlwind, and he needed to talk to Lu Han before he could do anything else.

He found Lu Han in his bed chamber. The door was open, and he could see Lu Han inside, but he still knocked quietly and let Lu Han beckon him inside. To his surprise, Lu Han got up and met him halfway, before reaching to close the door behind him.

“Are you hurt?” Lu Han asked him. His voice was gentle and Minseok let himself be hopeful.

Minseok nodded. “Chanyeol said I’ll be fine, just sore.”

He waited a moment before continuing: “I didn’t… I wasn’t the one to…”

“I know you weren’t the one planning on escaping, Minseok,” Lu Han assured him. “I heard the whole thing.”

Minseok looked up at him quickly. “You did?”

Lu Han tucked a bit of stray hair behind Minseok’s ear and nodded. “And even if I hadn’t… I wouldn’t think you would try. I don’t doubt you, Minseok.”

Minseok could feel emotion welling up in his chest, his eyes prickling with the start of tears, but he was determined to stay composed. “Thank you.”

Lu Han took his hands. “Minseok, you’ve kept going like nothing was wrong this entire time, staying composed and strong in the face of everything, but I know you’re not okay. I know you feel like you have to pretend, like you have to stay cheerful. But… it’s okay. It’s okay to cry. Maybe you don’t want to in front of everyone else, but you can cry in front of me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend in front of me.”

It was as if, by having Lu Han’s permission, by Lu Han telling him out loud that he knew Minseok was not completely content with everything, his emotions took that as the go-ahead. The floodgates opened on his tears and emotions, and Minseok burst into tears.

Lu Han held him while he cried. He felt Lu Han running his fingers through his hair, or at least what he could get to before the braid pulled it secure. Lu Han was murmuring something, and Minseok realized it was just gentle reassurance, like his mother would do.

Somehow that made him cry harder.

Eventually the tears slowed, and then stopped, but Lu Han didn’t let go of him. Instead, he gently coaxed Minseok into sitting down on the floor cushions with him. Lu Han talked quietly, and got up briefly only to come back with a wet cloth. He wiped Minseok’s face gently, and guided him into laying his head down on Lu Han’s lap.

Minseok fell asleep like that, his head on Lu Han’s lap and Lu Han’s fingers running gently through his hair.


End file.
